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Best track on &quot;Something for everybody&quot; LP 1961

Poll ended at Sat Apr 14, 2007 6:29 pm

There's Always Me

7

28%

Give Me the Night

3

12%

Sentimental Me

4

16%

Starting Today

2

8%

Gently

0

No votes

I'm Coming Home

0

No votes

In Your Arms

0

No votes

Put The Blame On Me

3

12%

Judy

3

12%

I Want You With Me

3

12%

Total votes : 25

Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:00 am

I just want to spotlight a couple of tracks:

"Give Me The Right" is a fine blues piece. Although I would say it would be the weakest of the blues numbers if put on "Elvis is Back", the track would still have fit right in on the previous album, IMO. I first heard this out of context and naturally assumed it was from EIB. Wonderful arrangement and vocal.

"Gently", while very low key (asthetically, not literally), is quite formidably rendered (but then, what wasn't at this time?). I especially like the growing power behind each rendition of the line, "Gentle as the dawn". On the third and final rendition, it's like Elvis is overwhelmed at the bond that has formed between him and his mysterious lover. The masculine hulk of his voice almost spills out uncontrollably on the third rendition. Listen carefully and you might hear what I mean. Exquisite.

Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:56 pm

SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY is a great LP
i voted for : THERES ALWAYS ME
Others that i really like:
STARTING TODAY
GENTLY
PUT THE BLAME ON ME
P.s.
the LP cover is one of the great Elvis' covers ever made ! sincerely
Lior

Re: Best track on "Something for everybody" LP 1961

Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:54 am

This was the last LP I bought to fill the holes in my collection of masters, in the late '80s. At the time my impression was that it was an immaculate work, expertly crafted by the world's finest ballad singer and some of the best session musicians to ever enter a studio. Somehow, how, the overall result seems to me to be almost too perfect, so flawless that the songs are a little sterile. Yes, there was less edgy material than in the sessions a year earlier, and not much that'd really qualify as rock 'n' roll, but the note-perfect performances on this LP really do seem to obscure the 'soul' of it all, at least a little.

But, man, what a showcase for Elvis' ballad-singing abilities.

"There's Always Me" is a track I first heard on the British Arcade release from the '70s that had 40 songs and it seemed so different from the tracks around it. It was certainly a striking song. Elvis was great at these kinds of ballads, building to a trademark crescendo ending with a song that uses so many aspects of his amazing (and, at this point, rapidly stretching) voice. The song's quieter moments are pure gold, too, with Don Robertson's distinctive tinkling piano sound so integral to the effect of the lyrics and Elvis' voice. Very nice.

"Give Me the Right" is also excellent, combining Elvis' considerable blues sensibilities and abilities with that seemingly effortless and sweeping ballad voice, at once delicate and broadly suggestive. Not a song many would know by name, but a bit of an unheralded classic, I think.

"Sentimental Me" is a fairly straightforward ballad, perfectly executed, as is "Starting Today," that's perhaps not quite as strong or as challenging a vocal. Both exemplify Elvis' incredible grasp of balladic singing and his extraordinary vocal gifts. "It´s A Sin" is another of those supremely smooth ballads, with Elvis in pristine vocal shape.

"Gently" could very easily be my pick of the LP, if I had to choose one 'best' song, but today I'm feeling like it's relegated to runner-up in the shadow of another song. It's such a beautiful, delicate song, yet another largely undiscovered gem that brings to mind a similar piece of excellence, 1963's "Never Ending."

"I'm Coming Home" is a midtempo piece that's not all that distinguished but is very well done and great to listen to.Nice instrumental breaks, too. This is a well-crafted pop song...I like it, but from the same period I'd prefer something like "Little Sister."

"In Your Arms" is somewhat in the same vein, with a strong blues component that Elvis nails. This is also true of the fun "Put The Blame On Me," a great little song that -- as shown on bootlegs like whichever There's Always Me set has this song -- features a vocal more challenging than you'd think on listening to Elvis' master.

"Judy" is kind of an odd song but it's compelling and kind of guides you easily through its melodic twists and turns. Again, it'd not be my pick of Elvis' more uptempo work even from 1961, but it's a good song and a very solid performance. I'll never forget, during my first research trip to Papua New Guinea in 1997 (based north of the town of Madang), hearing a local band that was playing long sets that covered what seemed like every major act of the rock-pop era...to my great surprise, they played "Judy," one of the more obscure songs of Elvis' catalog, and they did a great version of it (they also played "Dark Moon"). Elvis really is everywhere!

"I Want You With Me" is a supremely cool blues-rocker that channels a sound almost Sun-ish but certainly classic Elvis rock 'n' roll. This'd be my pick of the album, for now, given that I can only pick one. Instrumentation, pacing, timing, backup vocals, and Elvis are all perfectly combined to produce a classic track; a classic track that, once again, remains relatively obscure.

"I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell," from Wild In The Country, was thrown on as a bonus (sort of the reverse of what would later happen with soundtrack albums). It's terminally catchy, with that simple riff, and I do like it. It's not, however, comparable in sound or integral quality to the studio songs...it just doesn't quite seem like it belongs with them. Nice, though, all the same, if pretty tame uptempo pop.